As Florida State wraps up the regular season against Clemson and embarks on the ACC Tournament and into the regionals (and possibly further), Tomahawk Nation will be providing you with a little something different when it comes to post-game content.
Saturday
3 up
— With the end of the regular season, it is worth taking a look back at our preseason expectations for this season article and noting that the Seminoles have done well considering what was expected of them entering this season despite the lackluster finish to the regular season. All 3 of our writers thought that FSU would host a regional this year, which is a lock at this point in the season, but few who cover this team thought that they had much of a chance to host a super-regional, which is still a possibility for the ‘Noles with a strong ACC Tournament performance.
— Despite the fact that Florida State finished their weekend in the same slump that they spent most of the weekend in, they broke their 22-inning scoring drought with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning of Saturday’s game on a bases loaded walk by Chris Marconcini and added five more in the ninth inning with multiple back-ups in the game to make this one look a lot closer than it actually was. Those 5 runs in one inning significantly outnumber the 2 runs that the Seminoles scored in the first 26 innings of the series and could go a long way towards helping kickstart the bats for the ACC Tournament.
— Many comparisons have been drawn between this series against Clemson and the Tallahassee regional last season that saw FSU swept out by Georgia Southern and Alabama. Although this late in the season is not the time to play seemingly uninspired baseball, it is better to have this weekend when elimination is not on the line. Florida State fans can have hope that this was just a phase.
3 down
— After a slow start, the Florida State offense got going and had their chances to break back into Saturday’s game. However, 5 of FSU’s 7 hits came with 2 outs in the inning and the Seminole batters were often unable to take advantage of their opportunities, going .182 with runners on base, 0-5 with runners in scoring position, and leaving 8 runners on base.
— Drew Carlton, who has been a weekend starter since Mike Compton went down with injury in the Virginia Tech series, struggled for the 3rd time in 4 outings in the loss to Clemson, allowing 4 earned runs on 4 hits in just 3 1/3 innings of work. This will undoubtedly create more questions than answers as Bryant Holtmann, the weekday starter for the Seminoles, has been making a strong case to be a postseason starter in the past few weeks. Despite the strong performances from Holtmann and recent lackluster performances from Carlton, head coach Mike Martin seems to favor Carlton.
— The Seminoles added 2 more errors in Saturday’s loss, moving their series total to 7, and increasing the season total to 81, which is already 9 more than the team had in all of 2014. Going forward, the defensive problems could sink the Seminoles ship even if the bats wake up from their current slump and the pitching issues are sorted out.
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Friday
3 up
— Notre Dame, who holds a tiebreaker over FSU if they finish with the same record, lost to Boston College Friday night, 6-5, in extra innings. This means, in terms of the ACC Tournament seeding, that FSU just nneds to win on Sunday to capture the No. 3 seed heading into the conference tourney. Had Notre Dame won, it would have locked down the No. 3 seed.
— The national seed outlook, while much more difficult for FSU than it was two days ago, is still not out of the picture. The Seminoles need a win against the Tigers on Sunday, but more importantly, they’ll likely have to at least reach the final game of the ACC Championship – or win the tournament. Either way, the ‘Noles now have an uphill climb.
— With the storm that rolled in and caused an hour,and 42 minute rain delay on Friday came a really nice breeze, so it wasn’t miserably hot outside.
3 down
— Mike Compton didn’t have his best showing of the season – turns out it was one of his roughest outings. The right-hander gave up a solo home run in the top of the second inning, one of only three he has given up all year long. Compton allowed seven hits and five run – three earned – in 4 2/3 innings pitched. He only walked two while striking out six batters, but it was the kind of contact that Clemson was making – the Tigers were hitting the ball HARD.
— FSU’s use of the bullpen, and then lack thereof over the last seven days. It all started last Sunday when FSU had what seemed like a solid lead on the road against Louisville – one that, if it held, would have sealed a national seed for FSU – before completely blowing it to drop the series. Drew Carlton, after a couple shaky starts, was actually throwing well, but the FSU staff decided to take him out of the game, use numerous arms, and it didn’t pay off. It was quite the opposite Friday night against Clemson. Compton was hit HARD from the second inning until he was pulled, but there wasn’t any action in the bullpen whatsoever, until they rushed some arms out there in the fifth. I’m sure they have my reasons for these decisions, but that doesn’t make them good decisions.
— The Seminoles have been bad on offense and defense all weekend. The defense has now accumulated 79 errors on the year after adding three Friday night., Florida State, a team that leads the country in walks, did not draw a single base on balls against Clemson on Friday until the bottom of the ninth. They’ve also scored just one run in the last 21 innings of baseball. It seems that their success at the plate has fueled their passion in the field at times this year, but when neither is working, it’s just ugly. And that’s exactly what it was on Friday – UGLY.
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Thursday (4-1 Clemson)
3 up
— It had been a month since freshman third baseman Dylan Busby had put the barrel of the bat on the ball and sent it over the fence, but that streak came to an end Thursday night. In the second inning, with the scoreboard still showing zeros, Busby lifted a bomb over the fence in left field to give the ‘Noles a short’lived lead. It would be FSU’s only run of the night, and only the third homerun given up by Clemson’s Matthew Crownover.
— While a loss always hurts, Thursday’s came against the best pitcher in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Crownover (10-1) took the mound inside Dick Howser Stadium rocking a 1.43 ERA (1.00 ACC) after 13 appearances. He entered the game having struck out 86 batters in 88 innings pitched, all while allowing just 14 runs. Against FSU on Thursday, Crownover went seven innings, allowing five hits and one run. He struck out five and walked three.
–Boomer Biegalski pitched fairly well against the Tigers, but didn’t get much help from his defense. Of the four runs scored against Biegalski, only two of them were earned. This has been the story all season long for the JUCO transfer – no run support and inconsistent defense to help pull him through close games. His line – 6 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K – doesn’t really do him justice.
3 down
— Shoddy fielding didn’t help the Seminoles against the Tigers. FSU now has 76 errors on the year, four more than it had all of last year (72), and is on the way to its totals in 2013 (82) and 2012 (81). If they want to make a post-season push, they’ll have to clean things up. Danny De La Calle, who typically plays good defense, even found himself with the error bug, after he fielded a bunt and sailed the throw over the first baseman’s head and to the fence to bring a run across for Clemson.
— Bad base running continues to be one of those things that shows its face from time to time with FSU’s baseball team, and it didn’t help them on Thursday. Dylan Busby got caught stealing – by a mile – and there were instances in which base runners could’ve and should’ve been more aggressive. Base running isn’t always about being the fastest guy on the base paths, it’s about being aware of your surroundings. This is also something that needs to be cleaned up before FSU enters the postseason.
— The national seed picture just became a little more hectic. After dropping Sunday’s game against Louisville – one in which it seemed the Seminoles should have won easily to lock up a national seed – FSU is now in dire need of winning these next two games against Clemson, or at least making it to the ACC Championship game. The ‘Noles will get help from their RPI and the style in which they have won some big baseball games, but you can’t go and lose the last two series of the season.
What do you guys think?
